@kismet wrote:
I did call Costco for the extended warranty and they checked on this particular computer and it is warranted for 2 years through Dell. I thought afterward I should have asked if that was for the computer to be repaired at home. I'll have to call again to find out. Was told that I can call Dell directly for any problems.
Noticed that it seems all computers are made in China today. The one I'm using now that I got in 2007 was made in Malaysia. Husband got the same one at the same time and the only problem he's had with his is of his own making. My granddaughter knows more than all of us but she has a Mac and isn't familiar with a PC.
Computers these days are made by one of a handful of contract manufacturers like Foxconn and others. They're able to buy computer components by the millions resulting in a lower price per component and then use cheap labor to assemble the components. A CPU that might cost $100 each if you buy one from a retailer might cost $15 each if you buy a million from the manufacturer. A very large percentage of home electronics are produced in this manner. At the end of the process a label (HP, Dell Apple) is slapped on the outside of the product, but pretty much everything originates from one of those contract manufacturers.
Many pieces of lawn and garden equipment (garden tractors, riding lawn mowers, push lawn mowers, snow blowers, etc.) are made by an American contract manufacturer called MTD. They use the same economy of scale to contain prices and then paint/decorate the end product to suit the final seller. There are people who will swear they'll only buy a specific brand of garden equipment, who are totally unaware that it's made on the same assembly line by the same workers using the same components as dozens of other products. MTD makes and sells products under 24 different labels (Cub Cadet, Troy Bilt, Bolens, White Outdoor, Yardman, etc.) and has made products for other labels including Craftsman, Huskee, Lawn Chief, Massey Ferguson, Toro and more.
These mega-factories can churn out an endless stream of products under dozens/hundreds of labels, all of which perform nearly identically since they're made of largely the same components and assembled by the same workers. Most consumers have no clue this happens.
If you look around for the Kenmore appliance factory you'll discover there isn't one. Sears contracts out the manufacture of their appliances. If you look at the first three digits of the model number it'll tell you which company made the item. If the first three digits are 106, 110, 154, 198, 665 or 880 it was made by Whirlpool. If the first three digits are 401, 402, or 592, it was made by Samsung. They even use some companies you've likely never heard of like Moffat, Shunde Midea, Winix, and more. Just Google "Who makes Kenmore?" and you'll find a list of the codes and how to interpret who made the product. There are people who'll swear they'll only buy Kenmore who have no idea there is no Kenmore. It's still a Whirlpool, Samsung, whatever, just with a different label applied.
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